“Look in the back.” I encouraged him, but he brushed it off.
“Yeah, right. There’s probably a fake spider in there.” He commented, turning the silly present in his hands; but I persisted.
“Really. Look in the back.” I reiterated; and with a hint of reluctance, he did what I had asked of him.
“Fine.” He replied and opened the back. “What’s this?” He looked up at me, awestruck at what I had given him. He pinched it with his fingers and held it up; and the Christmas lights reflected in the silver hands that grasped each other.
“Friendship rings.” I spoke as I showed him my right hand, its twin on my finger. “So you don’t forget.” His head perked up at my words; and instantly, I knew I had said too much.
“Forget what?” He began; and suddenly, a wave of silence washed over us.
It was eerie, so much so that it took me a while to realize that the music had also stopped; and the Christmas tree was consumed in darkness.
“Oh boy…” My mother whispered to herself, and Caleb’s brothers stared up at the ceiling in surprise. “I guess what I was planning for dinner is out of the question.”
“Uh…” I turned to Caleb when I heard his voice; and he shrugged, immediately making me uneasy.
He was always so sure of everything.
“Maybe not…”
“Thanks, Mom. Merry Christmas. I love you, too.” Connor closed his phone and returned it to his pocket, turning to my parents. “She’s doing all right. Mr. and Mrs. Richardson invited her over.”
“Good. I’m glad she’s not on her own.” My mother sighed, standing. “Would you mind coming with me to the laundry room so we can take out some more blankets?”
“Not at all.” He replied and left his seat on the couch to follow her, leaving me alone in the blackness. I listened to Caleb and his brothers helping my father in the kitchen—or rather, my father telling the twins that his carving knives weren’t toys, despite how cool they looked. I stared out the window and at the blizzard that continued on outside as night fell, filling the house with the shadows that came with it. I wrapped my arms around myself as I sat by the fire and closed my eyes, wishing that I hadn’t seen what I had on Cedar Crest Island.
Because now, that was all I saw in the darkness: a black shapeless thing, drifting in a wind that shouldn’t have existed, with a face—it was the face that terrified me the most—of an old man; but the image was so distorted, it was as if I were looking at it through a broken mirror.
“Hey.” Caleb whispered, and the sound of his voice brought me back to the living room. He sat down beside me and gingerly placed a blanket over my shoulders. “I guess you’re stuck with me for a little longer.”
“This sounds like a terrible idea.” I told him as I fixed my eyes on the Dutch oven sitting in the fireplace, the flames licking lazily at the sides. The smoky aroma of the ham baking inside filled my nostrils and wove itself into my hair and clothes.
“Come on,” he responded, grinning, “they have whole websites for this kind of stuff. And besides, even if we set the place on fire, the alarm’s not going to go off, anyway.” I smiled to myself when he nudged me with his elbow; but in an instant, that smile was gone. “What’s goin’ on?” He asked me, but I didn’t answer. “The way you were, this mornin’—there’s somethin’ wrong.”
I hated how well he knew me.
“Can we wait—just for a little bit?” I stuttered. He nodded when he saw the look in my eyes and held me close.
“Sure. I’ll wait as long as you want.” He told me. “I’d do anything for you.”
That’s what I was afraid of.
Chapter Twelve
Hope upon Hope
“Elynea…” I whispered the name. “The moon and her shadow…” I gazed out the window and at the sky that traded its midnight blue cloak for a golden mantle and wondered.
If I could have stayed—if my mother hadn’t given me away—what kind of person would have I woken up as? Would I have found myself in one of the many rooms in my family’s palace? Would I have opened my eyes and seen the same stars that I saw now—but painted on the ceiling by the master illuminator? Or would I be lying awake, anticipating everything that my parents had planned for my sixteenth birthday?
My birthday. It suddenly occurred to me.
“Today’s my birthday.” I glanced at the door and then to my phone on my nightstand.
Connor—if there was anybody I wanted to talk to, right now—six o’clock. I guess I’d have to wait another couple hours.
But as I laid my head back on my pillow, something white and square on the floor caught my eye; and I left my bed to step towards it. It was only when I drew closer that I realized that it was a note, and I bent down to pick it up. I squinted my eyes, unsure if I recognized the handwriting. “‘Meet me in the backyard.’” The note requested, and I smiled when I turned it over and found a name written on the other side.
Orion
Quickly, I threw my robe on over my pajamas and slipped downstairs, passing through the kitchen and stopping by the glass sliding door to push back the blinds. And he was standing there, shivering as he stared up at the brightening sky with his hands in his pockets. He turned when I pushed the back door open and grinned.
“Hey, Moongirl.” His voice speaking the name that he had given me sent butterflies fluttering through my insides, and I blushed as I stepped outside and into the snow.
“Hey.” I breathed. “Why did you want to meet here?” Silently, he stole a step to the side; and I gasped at what had been standing behind him: a brass telescope—like the ones I had always seen in movies when I was younger—of the intrepid explorer who happens upon a band of pirates or of the eccentric astronomer and his much more grounded son. “Oh my gosh…” My voice trailed away as I carefully reached out to run my fingers across the cold surface.
It was so beautiful.
“You like it?” He asked, gazing at me expectantly. I lifted my eyes from the telescope to answer him.
“It’s—it’s amazing.” I stuttered, still recovering from the surprise of it all.
“Good.” I wouldn’t get the chance. “It’s yours.” The smile fell from my face when he spoke.
“You’re kidding…” I said, but the look in his eyes told me otherwise. “How did you…?” I started, but I couldn’t finish.
“What’s a moon without stars?” I looked up when he gestured to the sky. It was still thick with the gray clouds that had brought the storm our way, but I could see the light of the moon in silver streaks through the darkness.
The moon—it seemed so full already. I couldn’t imagine what it would look like two days from—oh.
It didn’t matter.
I turned to face him as he gazed up at the sky and saw him as I did that first night: the strange boy who had broken into my father’s business just to let his brothers see the horses.
“Caleb?” I whispered, my voice trembling in my throat.
I was really going to do it. I was going to tell him.
“Yeah?” His eyes lit up when he heard me call his name.
“I think…I…” It was hard to say. “These next few days—you shouldn’t be here.”
“Why not?” He took a step forward. Immediately, I regretted what I had said.
Whatever reason I gave him, he wouldn’t leave me alone.
“My friend, Matthew…” I paused to find the words between the horrifying truth and what it would take to push him away. “It wasn’t an animal attack.” I watched as he wrinkled his forehead in confusion.
“Then, what was it?”
“I don’t know.” I shook my head. “I thought I was the only one who had seen it, but—but Matthew saw it too before he—” He placed his hands on my shoulders in an effort to quiet me.
“Whatever it is—whatever is goin’ on, I don’t care. I’m stayin’.” He insisted. I bit my lip, angry at myself for only making it harder.
“I’m not asking.” He b
rought his arms back to his sides, staring at my face with his dark brown eyes. He was searching for something in mine; and when his own widened, I knew that he had found it.
“You don’t have to protect me.” He knew me too well.
“I know.”
“So why are you treating me like you have to?” I didn’t want to answer. “Melissa.”
I guess Moongirl was gone.
“Let me do this with you. I want to help.” He raised his voice as he spoke, as if saying it louder would make me understand.
“I can’t.” I replied, and tears began to form in my eyes. “It’s my fault. He’s been looking for me. Like you said, I’m the only one who can do anything.”
It was a scary thought. I was the only one.
“So you’re going to martyr yourself?” He asked, and I wondered how clearly my intentions were set in the lines of my face.
Or if it was just another one of his gifts—looking at me and knowing my thoughts in an instant.
“Does Connor know?” I gazed up at him at the trace of jealousy in the mention of his name, fully aware of what my silence would tell him. But I was more preoccupied with the gravity of what I was doing.
He didn’t know. And I intended on keeping it that way.
“You’re forgetting that I’ve already been through this.” He exclaimed. “Please, don’t put me through it, again.” He pleaded with me, but I couldn’t let him convince me otherwise.
“I’m sorry.” I stared down at my shoes and whispered; and when I looked up, the light that I had seen in him—that fleeting moment of happiness seemed to fade away before my eyes.
“So, this is how it ends?” He asked me, but the sudden realization was something that neither of us could escape from.
“This is how it ends.”
A simple spark in the darkness—that’s all it took to set them all aflame. Sixteen. It all seemed so real, now. The faces that surrounded me were suddenly illuminated in the flickering light, and I glanced at Connor sitting beside me. I never thought a day like this would feel so sad. Amidst all the singing and cake and presents, one single thought still lingered in my mind. And I couldn’t tell them.
“Make a wish.” I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the light of the candles and turned my head in my mother’s direction.
“What?” I hadn’t been listening. She gestured toward the cake that she had set before me. “Oh.” The wax from the candles had already begun to drip onto the milk chocolate frosting. I held my breath captive in my throat and closed my eyes as I thought of what I wanted: to be back in the December of last year, when Heather and Matthew were inseparable—and when we were still too young to understand that we were nowhere near invincible. I blew them out; and all at once, their voices rang in my ears as they cheered and clapped their hands.
“All right,” my mother spoke as she plucked the candles out of the frosting and set them down on a paper plate, “who wants cake?” I’d never seen Connor raise his hand so quickly.
I guess a year without cake every month had made him miss it.
I watched her slice a piece off of the corner and hand it to me on a plate.
“There you go.”
“Thanks.” I said when I received it, and my father placed the camera on the table.
“Sweet sixteen, huh?” He quipped, chuckling. “What are you going to do about that?”
I honestly had no idea.
“Um…” I started, but it seemed a lot harder to finish. Connor dropped his fork onto his plate at my silence and hurriedly answered for me.
“We have a list.” I turned my head towards him as he continued. “Maybe we can knock off a few more places next year.” He suggested; and I nodded, smiling.
“Yeah—sounds like a plan.”
I stared up at the sky, watching as the stars sparkled before my sight, and drew in a deep breath of the chilly night air. The thunderstorms that had come with the blizzard left the atmosphere heavy with static; and as I breathed it in, it electrified my lungs. I looked out at the rooftops still covered in snow and grinned at the Christmas lights that had managed to cling to them through the storm.
“There you are.” I heard my window slide open as Connor’s voice carried out into the night, and I stole a glance over my shoulder as he climbed out of my bedroom and onto the roof. “It’s about time for me to go home.” He sat beside me and wrapped his arms around his legs.
“How was the rest of the party?” I asked him, smiling slightly.
I hadn’t bothered to stick around.
“Boring.” He exclaimed jokingly; and I stared at him, tilting my head to the side for a serious answer. “Really.” He insisted. “It’s not a party without Captain Sighs-a-lot.” I shook my head at his words as he laughed. And then for a moment, it was silent as we both gazed at the night sky and the moon that had started to rise above the horizon. “It’s like the calm before the storm—or,” he paused to correct himself, “after the storm.”
“The storm’s just beginning.” I murmured, just loud enough for him to hear me. “What do you think is going to happen—when all of this is over?” I looked at him, desperate that he’d abandon his practicality for a moment of irrational hope.
“I wish I could say that we’ll go back to basketball games and having picnics by the lake, but I can’t. I don’t think it’s ever going to be the same.” My heart sank into my stomach, but I knew that he was right. “But I’ll be there.” He added, grasping my hand earnestly. “I’ll always be there.”
“Thanks.” I lowered my eyes toward the frost-covered shingles, hoping that he wouldn’t see the tears that had begun to stream down my cheeks.
“I got you something for your birthday.” I looked up as he fumbled through his pockets and fished out a black velvet box the size of the palm of his hand. “I found it at the antique shop in Pryor.” He said as a puff of mist escaped his lips.
It was strange—I’d forgotten how cold it was.
He opened it up, revealing a round silver locket inside, and took it out.
“Is it okay if I…” I nodded my head before he could finish, and he undid the clasp as I pulled back my hair so he could fasten it around my neck. “There.” I blushed as he spoke inches from my face; but suddenly, his expression changed. And he wrinkled his forehead in surprise.
“What?” I reached for my hair, unsure of what he was seeing; and he pointed at something over my head.
“That.” It was all he said. I lifted my head to find that the tears that had left my eyes were floating above me, and I laughed at the sight of him stretching his hand out to catch them. “You’re so cool.” He marveled; and as I watched him, another of Cedar Crest’s mysteries was revealed to me.
And the one at the end of that long walk—I finally saw his face.
Chapter Thirteen
The Night Stared Back
I think there’s a moment—that point when you realize what kind of person you want to be. It doesn’t happen overnight. It starts—it builds—from the very second you take your first breath to the day you have to make a choice: between fighting for yourself and fighting for others.
And for me, I think today is that day.
I sat silently in my bedroom as I ran my fingers across the comforter covered in autumn leaves and smiled sadly.
My father had bought it for my seventh birthday. I remembered all the times Heather and I had turned it into a fort during our sleepovers—telling each other scary stories and pretending that we were damsels in distress. And the stars on the ceiling—somehow, my mother knew I’d like them before I even knew what they were.
I stood up from my bed and stepped toward the bedside table, taking a deep breath before pulling the drawer open and staring at what lay inside. The three of our faces gazed back at me as I lifted the picture frame from its place and set it back where it belonged. I turned my head as the doorbell rang, and my heart nearly stopped in my chest.
The time had come so soon.
�
�Melissa!” My mother called to me from downstairs. “Connor’s here to pick you up for the party!” I buttoned my white trench coat over my maroon dress and touched the locket hanging around my neck—just to make sure that it was still there.
“I’ll be down in a minute!” I opened my door to reply to her, suddenly startled when I found Connor standing in the hallway in his navy blue blazer and jeans. “Oh, hey.” I felt the blood rising to my face as I spoke. “I’ll be down in a minute.” I repeated to him.
“You look nice.” He simply said, and I couldn’t hide the smile that crept its way onto my face. “You do know it’s probably twenty degrees out there, right?”
Of course. There had to be a joke in there somewhere.
“I’ll be fine.” I insisted and reached for the light switch before closing the door behind me. I paused, afraid that it would be the last time.
“Melissa?” I looked up when I heard my name.
“Yeah?” I asked, my hand refusing to remove my fingers from the doorknob.
“Adrienne’s expecting us.” He glanced at his father’s watch on his wrist.
He was right. We were already running a little late.
I nodded quietly and followed him down the steps leading into the living room where my parents waited on the couch. The New Year’s Eve celebration in New York City was displayed on the television, and a bottle of champagne surrounded by a handful of glasses sat on the table.
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